PHA Issue Drug Advice to People in County Down

The Public Health Agency (PHA) is using its early warning system to raise awareness of the risks of drug misuse in light of recent reports and local concerns regarding incidents which may be related to drug misuse.

Owen O’Neill, Health Improvement and Social Wellbeing Manager with the PHA said: “You can never be sure exactly what’s in non-prescribed drugs. They could be cut with other cheaper drugs such as tranquilizers or even toxic substances. Therefore, taking any substance that hasn’t been prescribed for you potentially puts you at risk. In addition, combining these substances with alcohol, or other drugs, further increases the risks and the advice from the PHA is to never mix alcohol and other drugs. The same advice also applies to taking alcohol with prescribed medication.”

The dangers of taking drugs are now further compounded by the emergence of so called ‘legal highs’ over the past few years. Government legislation has had an impact on preventing a number of substances being sold, however, the PHA is aware that new substances continue to be promoted and sold over the internet, through ‘head shops’, and by friends or drug dealers.

“These substances present a real risk to a person’s health because their production is not regulated and, since they are new and constantly changing, it is very difficult to know what their effects are,” continued Owen.

“Light-hearted street names can mislead people into believing that they are indulging in low-risk fun when in fact these new psychoactive substances can be more dangerous than traditional drugs. These drugs could also include banned substances; leaving people open to prosecution.”